


Together. Always.

by Five_star_hellhole



Category: Cassandra Palmer Series - Karen Chance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-12
Updated: 2018-02-12
Packaged: 2019-03-17 04:16:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13651257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Five_star_hellhole/pseuds/Five_star_hellhole
Summary: The Frank Castle and Karen Page basement scene with Pritkin and Cassie.





	Together. Always.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Marcosburleybiceps](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Marcosburleybiceps).



His eyes burned from the acrid smoke filling the room. The sounds of the fire crackling and fire alarms far way, removed, as if hearing through layers of cotton. But he could hear her. He couldn’t hear the shrieking alarms but he could hear her breathing. He slowly moved towards her across the floor, the pain riddling his body a distant echo, though it hampered his movement. Limbs responding more slowly than they should. But he could see her, laying there not moving, blood dripping from her brow, glass and ash peppering her hair. They had been less than a foot away, but every millisecond was an eternity before he saw her open her eyes and look at him. She was dazed, the bomb having barely missed them when he tackled them to the floor as it exploded the door off the freezer hinges. The copper smell of blood and gore hung in the air, but none of that mattered. Not the viscera, nor the pieces of metal imbedded around them and in his arm, just her. For the barest moment he was lost, disconnected for reality, until his hand touched her face. Brushing along her neck and jaw before cupping her head. This was real.

“Are you ok?” he demanded in a whisper. His voice gruff with worry and graveled from the smoke. She just nodded at him, reaching out her own hand to lightly touch his side as they lay surrounded by the debris. But they couldn’t stay here. It wasn’t safe. He had to protect her, he had to get her out. He helped her up to her feet, neither one of them steady. Blood dripped down his arm, his face, his entire right side. It had been a rough day. His arm dislocated, a noticeable limp when he walked, blood flowing down his face and side from bullet grazes and embedded debris; bruised and battered but alive. Alive for however long it took to get her to safety. 

They both stood looking at each other, no emotions showed, just took each other in, knowing the crazy hadn’t passed, that it wasn’t over yet, that surviving the blast didn’t mean they would be able to get out, at least not both of them.

Pritkin could hear them coming, their boots echoing down the hallway on the other side of the door into Dante’s kitchen. He had barely gotten the kamikaze fey into the freezer before he had blown up. But she wasn’t safe yet. He started towards the door, feeling pain but not acknowledging it. Cassie took a step towards him, a softly spoken “hey” stopping him. He turned back towards her, the blood and sweat mingling on his face and burning as it ran into his eyes, but he saw her and couldn’t bring himself to go just yet. She reached out to him, bridging the divide, and took hold of his sleeve. He briefly looked down at her hand, so small and streaked with ash, but still looked too clean to be touching something as abominable as him. He looked back up at her, into her eyes and knew she wouldn’t let him go through that door. Not alone. 

“Together. Always together.” She said to him, refusing to release him, refusing to let him go through that door. He closed his eyes for the briefest second before nodding. When he opened them again she was closer, standing just inches from him. He let himself take comfort for a moment, letting himself feel human for just a moment. He leaned his forehead down to hers, closing his eyes, to find that moment’s peace. They swayed slightly, foreheads touching, breathing in each other. Taking comfort in the knowledge that they were there, alive and together. As they pulled away, he opened his eyes. They were in the suite, she had shifted. Not far, but far enough. Cassie began to crumple, her energy spent, nothing left to keep her standing as she used up all her reserves to get them there. John looked around before picking her up, dislocated shoulder be damned. He walked into her bedroom, limping worse now but continued into the tiled bathroom and set her down in the tub. He closed the door and slid down the cabinets. The wards would hold, long enough for reinforcements to arrive, doubly so with the extra protections he had added to this room. If they didn’t then he would shift them to the shadowland and hide out. A temporary solution but one he was willing to take. More enemies there but more places to hide too. Until then he would sit there and watch over her, listening to the sounds of her breathing and the dripping of his blood onto the floor. The wards would hold. They had to.


End file.
